The high school season racing is out of the starting gates and ripping into 2016 with hundreds of high-energy competitors and all sorts of crazy Mount Hood weather.
The return of the snow has enabled racing on Stadium, Reynolds and Dog Leg after two years of improvisation, but race day conditions have been challenging to say the least. Racers have battled high winds, near white-outs, sharp sleet and buckets of Oregon rain. Still, judging from the race photos Mike Juliana is getting so far this year, the tough conditions are not slowing anyone down. Talented racers including Izzy Hoffman and Will Johnson of Lakeridge, Aidan Kearney and Molly Jansky of Jesuit, Sami Woodring and Cullen Thorton of OES and many more have been ripping through the gates with impressive style.
And having a blast in the process.
Photo by Robin Cressy
It takes energy and teamwork to pull off a ski race on Mount Hood, and that means plenty of volunteers out there exposed to the weather while slipping courses, tending gates and assisting fallen racers. No one is complaining about all the extra snow this year, but a day or two of sunshine would definitely make the work of setting up and running races a lot easier.
Fortunately, ski racers and their coaches and families are the type of people who can turn a challenging situation into a fun one. A lot of it has to do with attitude, as these shots from ski coach and videographer Robin Cressy illustrate:
Mike Woodson, Amanda Case and Andrew Siebert
Conditions were soggy but spirits were high over this past weekend, with racers from the Three Rivers, Metro, and Mt. Hood Leagues all competing in giant slalom and slalom on the mountain. Jesuit, Lakeridge, West Linn, Hood River and Lake Oswego are emerging as strong contenders for the overall Oregon team championship.
The top 10 Metro women racers after two league races are:
- Molly Jansky of Jesuit
- Amber Miles of Jesuit
- Emelyn Roberts of OES
- Sami Woodring of OES
- Jessica South of Jesuit
- Ashlyn Bronson of Jesuit
- Claire Jacobsen of Jesuit
- Autumn Fernald of Sunset
- Molly Roush of Tigard
- Megan Pearce of Sunset
The top 10 for the Metro men:
- Aidan Kearney of Jesuit
- Cullen Thornton of OES
- Bridger Ueeck of Jesuit
- Kenneth Robinson of Southridge
- Garrett Hallquist of Beaverton
- Ryan Barlow of Tigard
- Hunter Harrington of Beaverton
- Mac Heffernan of Sunset
- Michael Liang of Southridge
- Eric Belden of Jesuit
The top 10 Three Rivers League women racers are:
- Izzy Hoffman of Lakeridge
- Nicole Danilevsky of Lake oswego
- Clara Macedo of La Salle
- Olivia Andersen of Catlin Gabel
- Haley Anderson of Wilson
- Graeson Fish of Lake Oswego
- Sam Bauer of Lincoln
- Kaitlyn Paskill of Lincoln
- Zayna Farah of West Linn
- Moira Chen of Lincoln
The top 10 for the Three Rivers men:
- Will Johnson of Lakeridge
- Ben Davidson of Valley Catholic
- Adam Valls of Lincoln
- Connor Splistoser of West Linn
- Cooper Cheetham of Lake Oswego
- Cooper Lawhead of Lakeridge
- Dylan Tuor of West Linn
- Connor Hilts of Lakeridge
- Chris McNabb of West Linn
- Zach Stevens of West Linn
Many thanks to Mike Juliana and Robin Cressy for sharing their excellent high school racing photos.
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Last modified: January 20, 2016
